A Christmas Chorale
by Dextrous Fred
Summary: This is a series of three works, each in a different style, commenting on and expanding the themes in Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol". Each section begins with a short introduction to the theme being explored. It was written for a class project, though I suppose it counts as fan fiction, and will do well as my first entry here. Enjoy!
1. An Obituary

A/N: "…and on it, plundered and bereft, unwatched, unwept, uncared for, was the body of this man…He lay, in the dark empty house, with not a man, a woman, or a child, to say that he was kind to me in this or that, and for the memory of one kind word I will be kind to him." (Dickens, 87)

Theme: Legacy after Death

Scrooge, in the fourth stave, finds himself late to his own funeral, so to speak. In observing the behavior of those he knew, he finds that his death is not mourned or regretted by anyone. Because he failed to live a good life in the eyes of those around him, his death had no meaning. In the same way, perhaps, his life had no meaning. This is terrifying to him, that he has nothing but death to look forward to in the future if he does not change, and that everything he ever cared about was ultimately futile. This would not be nearly as effective if he had not just seen, in the past and present, that his life could yet have meaning, and that the meaning would come from his interactions with others. Seeing a future in which he has no one else to even remember him kindly drives home the point all three spirits have been making.

* * *

The London Business Enquirer December 25, 1843

 **Obituaries:**

There is only one obituary to share today, as no other businessman had the gall to die on the eve of their most prized holiday of the year. Even those on their deathbeds have done well to postpone the inevitable until at least the undertaker is not otherwise employed at home with his family in a much happier occupation. However, one businessman of note has taken, shall we say, a holiday from this holiday, leading some to remark that this particular man would perhaps rather die than miss a day's salary.

The man referred to is, of course, the infamous Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge, lately of the Scrooge and Marley firm, Mr. Marley being rather less lately thereof. The writer, in a valiant effort to retain his impartial journalist's voice, will refrain from any personal comments on Mr. Scrooge's personality or character, lest the reader think that Mr. Scrooge was generally disliked. In fact, in the interest of neutrality, it will not be at all implied that Mr. Scrooge was at all covetous, greedy, or hateful, even by the standards of eminent businessmen. Far be it from this publication's rights to intimate any such accusations.

It will, however, be said that Mr. Scrooge, in his lifetime, was a very successful businessman with ever a care to his own fortune. It is not to be argued that he was a self-made, or at least a self-centered, man, who never took anything except what was owed him plus interest, fees, and late penalties. Many in the businesses next to his remember fondly his trips to 'Change on which he would leave a store and return upon finding he had been short-changed by a ha'penny. Such a remarkable mind for figures and finance! And very capable of mental calculation; why, most who knew him say they never met a man to match his calculating nature.

His shrewdness in business dealing was not to be matched, however, by his integrity and reliability. Each of his tenants emphatically declares Scrooge to be the most trustworthy and predictable landlord they had ever had; if they had so much as lapsed one day in their monthly payments, Scrooge, as sure as clockwork, would have them on the streets in a timely and efficient manner. And all may remember the year in which the orphanage could not pay the rent on the venerable (read: old) building at which it resided. Scrooge, a man of his word, followed his own contract to the letter where many would have been tempted to renege, and foreclosed the place forthwith. And outside of regular business hours, too! All who knew him were, understandably, amazed at this show of character.

Little is known of Mr. Scrooge's childhood, so little will be said. But his later life was spent in his most famous pastime: the accumulation of wealth. The funeral for this man will be held on Sunday next, a public service with lunch to follow. The journalist, by way of condolences, would like to offer his deepest sympathies to anyone—anyone at all—who knew Mr. Scrooge in his lifetime. They must be sore pressed at this tragic turn of events.


	2. Letters

A/N: "Our contract is an old one. It was made when we were both poor and content to be so, until, in good season, we could improve our worldly fortune by our patient industry. You _are_ changed. When it was made, you were another man." (Dickens, 44)

Theme: Change Affecting Others

Scrooge, during the journey through his past, shows a steady progression from innocence to the man he would eventually become—greedy, uncaring, and cold. Nowhere is this more evident than in his exchange with Belle. We are dropped off at the end of the relationship, with only hints as to how it started and degraded. But degrade it did, as Belle recognizes that her once-loving Ebenezer had changed into a self-centered man named Mr. Scrooge. She explains it as being caused by his love of money and hate (perhaps fear) of poverty. In these letters, I connected to the theme by examining what the change could have looked like as it progressed, using Belle as a lens. Perhaps the two had indeed exchanged letters such as these, letters which show the sad transformation of a good man into something much less.

* * *

My Dearest Ebenezer,

It is with a song in my heart and a hope in my prayers that I write to you to receive news of our pending engagement. Oh, please say it may be soon! You have kept me waiting too long now for the satisfaction of calling you my own. I will be patient, for I know that the end will justify the wait. But please do not tarry in responding to me! I understand your zeal in your business efforts which have taken you far away from me into the city, away from your boyhood home where we were happy together, but do not think me such a fool as to not know the speed of post from here to London! And when you respond, please let it be with assurances that you have found employment and may bring me there to you in good time to make ourselves a home. I miss you terribly, and wait with great anticipation to hear your voice in the words you send me.

Your Best Beloved,

Belle

Dearest Ebenezer,

I again write to you with overflowing and abounding hope for our future! You say you have secured employment at a local business firm and are put up in an apartment. Oh, give me but the address and we may be reunited! I care not that I am penniless and your salary as a clerk is meager. We have our love which is stronger than such hindrances and may persevere even in the coldest of London's slums! But now my heart grieves me that it has been so long since I last saw your face, heard your voice—when may I come to you? Say it is soon! And do not work so hard, my dear; your letters, few as they are, are cramped and show the signs of a stressed and hard-pressed man. You desire I wait until the "means are secured" to support us both but I fear that you forget how well we have kept our greatest treasure, even in the midst of poverty. Give me, therefore, swift word to me of when our reunion may be-and how happy a day that will be! And after that, the engagement you had promised me and the beginning of our lives together. Does it not make your heart thrill?

Your Beloved,

Belle

My Dear Ebenezer,

I again write to you with great expectations, seeing as this correspondence is the only way I may be assured of your undying love for me. I read your last letter; however, all I could glean from it is that your position at the firm is providing "interesting business prospects". Oh, please, Ebenezer, why waste precious time on such mundane details? Is not the love we share far more important to you than the employment you sought as a means of our eventual reunion? And yet those means have seemed recently too much on your mind. Are you so busy you cannot reply to my weekly letters but once in a month? Swiftly, reassure me lest I believe you are truly more concerned about gaining means to sustain us rather than love, which has always sustained us. I look forward to your prompt reply.

Your love,

Belle

Dear Ebenezer,

I again write to you in hopes of news of our future. Are you yet ready to begin our life together? If so, you will forgive my saying, you have not made it abundantly clear in your letters. My love is patient, yes, but there is a limit to how long even I can wait. It is too much for me to bear, and though love be unbounded by time I fear it may be weakened by it. Keep me not waiting on your whimsy, strung along by vague, occasional letters. Speak plainly, man! Tell me now, Ebenezer, what your true intent is. I ask now for what I have waited for, hoped for, dreamed of these past three years without any blessed assurance of an answer. Am I still your heart's desire? Am I still the sole occupant of your future dream? Or have I been replaced? Tell me what I could do to change this! Our future together used to be so bright, but now the shades of the future are dark and forbidding! Tell me that they may be altered, and that the fears inside me show not the future that will be but may be only. For I have waited, and longed, and sought after you, Ebenezer. Our future is yet unknown to me. Do not keep it that way.

Yours,

Belle

Ebenezer,

I write to you to cordially ask your presence at my home in the country this Christmas day. You know the way, do you not? I see the address written on the letters you sent me, though it has been so long since the last one that I fear you may have forgotten. There is much we have to discuss. I tell you I ask you cordially, but this is no casual social visit. In case you should be inclined to make an excuse ("The firm," as you tell me in all of your letters, "expects much"), I reply that even they cannot expect to keep you on the most blessed holiday of the year. And besides, this meeting may be of more business import than a week's worth at the firm. For you and I, Ebenezer, have unfinished business. Something started long, long ago—call it a contract, if you will. And I fear that, in the course of this contract, your terms and conditions have changed without notice to me, your cosigner and confidant. That is bad business practice, as you know, Ebenezer. Or should I call you Mr. Scrooge? That's the name everyone reads on the sign out front, is it not? Do not toy with me; you are partnering in your own firm now, as I learned from my sister! How is it then that your "situation remains largely unimproved"—is your excuse of "barely making ends meet" not yet tired? From the amount you use it, I should wonder it is not yet ragged and threadbare.

Oh, Ebenezer, how could you have changed so much? Five years ago it was enough that we have a roof over our heads and love to sustain our hearts. Now it seems you would not be content that we live like the royalty of London for all it would improve our situation! And, from my perspective, even if we did it would not improve our situation. Do you know what I mean? You say the investments behave poorly and yet it is your investment in me that is most neglected! The only engagements you care about are those of business. Your most beloved promises are promissory notes. And the only long-term arrangement you seem content to organize is a mortgage, let alone a marriage! This is too much for me. You may say I go too far, but the fact is, my dear sir, you did not go far enough.

I regret nothing. The few years we had together were happy and I thank you for them. The Ebenezer I knew then was a wonderful young man whom I loved for no reason other than love itself. I cared not that you were penniless! I had no desire for earthly wealth, or what it brings. Now, however in your quest to make yourself a "worthy husband", you have found for yourself a worthier partner than me. For I apparently cannot satisfy what has become your chief aim in life: gain. Avarice, greed; call it what you will. You were not always so, my dear. I remember the times when my laugh was the most valuable thing in the world to you. And I remember the days when a week of work was only made bearable to you by the thought of meeting me on the weekends. And through this long time of waiting for you, waiting for the engagement that never came, I kept alive in my heart that Ebenezer I used to know. That happy, carefree young man, unfettered and innocent. I waited and hoped for him. But I know now that the Ebenezer I once knew lives not. I bear you, his successor in office, no ill will, but only wish to express my deepest condolences. For I am really and truly sorry for your loss. And for mine. The least you can do now is to visit me in my time of mourning and conclude what we so long ago began.

Belle


	3. A Carol

A/N: "When this strain of music sounded, all the things that the Ghost [of Christmas Past] had shown him came upon his mind; he softened more and more and thought that if he could have listened to it often, years ago, he might have cultivated the kindness of life for his own happiness, without resorting to the sexton's spade that buried Jacob Marley." (Dickens, 72)

Theme: Regretting the Past

Scrooge, though at first reluctant to listen to the spirits, quickly learns from his past that there was a lot of room for improvement. He mentions explicitly that he wished he had been kinder to the boy at his doorstep and his clerk, Bob. The purpose of this spirit is to contrast the present Scrooge with his past self, and this ultimately causes regrets. It is a common theme of human existence that the past is unchangeable, which leads to memories often being painful. We all often find ourselves wondering what _could have been_ , or perhaps what should have been. Even worse is when we, like Scrooge, realize with certainty what we should have done. Connecting from the distant past to his recent experiences, Scrooge becomes remorseful as he sees the way his actions affect others, and how he has changed over the years.

Lyrics written to the tune of "Alexander Hamilton" (from the musical of the same name), which I definitely do not own. Karaoke versions of this song exist online, if you want to read it through in rhythm, which I did my best to keep in time with the original.

* * *

"Everything You Should Have Done"

Narrator:

How does this master, rich man, money galore

And a businessman, choking, surrounded by the broke in the thick

smoke that his London is abundant in, the squalor,

cares nothing to give so much as a dollar?

And won't see, though they're on their knees with desperate pleas,

humanity, stuck too deep in poverty

In his city, the working houses ain't pretty

But this man, he lets 'em stay in need and depravity

And every day while his wealth was consuming him and dooming

Most of his tenants, to foreclosure looming

Inside, he didn't give a care for those humans

The man got no pleasure from the power he was abusing

Then along came a spirit, and if only he would hear it,

This man saw his past come haunting him again

Brought the memories all back, took him to when he was ten,

and he found a joy inside, happiness he thought had died

Well he saw what he was, back when he was just a kid and

Lonely, reading books was all he ever did and

Christmas came around and still he was alone

'Cause he came from an abusive home

What's your pain, man?

Scrooge:

Everything I was back then

I never wanted to see it again

And there's a million things I could've been

But it's too late, it's too late

Narrator:

But the spirit showed him more, what before, he had tried

To forget what had hurt him, and kept deep inside

One love, but he lost his hold for fool's gold

And Belle moved on but his heart went cold

Ever since then he kept his love hidden inside

Left him with nothin' but bitter pride, now his hope had died

No voice saying

Scrooge you gotta give of yourself

He started retreating and keeping every penny for himself

He coulda gave somethin' simple to the boy that sang for him

Who made him think of the child that he himself had been

Or Bob, the clerk, and gave him somethin' for his work

Better than an icy glare and a job without a perk

Seein' all the poor that he had just condemned

Pleading in a new light because in the end, all they

Want is so simple, they ask for a friend

If you change you can be a new man

Company:

If you change you can be a new man

([Scrooge:] It's too late)

If you change you can be a new man

([Scrooge:] It's too late)

If you change you can be a new man

If you change (you change)

[Scrooge:] It's too late

Company:

All the things you should've done

There's still a chance for you

You've got some life left,

But now you're running out of time

[Scrooge:] Oh, everything I could've done

[Company:] Everything you should've done

When it all weighs down on you

Will you know what you gave away?

Will you know your regret and shame?

Your world will never be the same, oh

Your past is all behind you now, your future waits ahead,

But Ebenezer who will care when you are dead?

He lost his past and failed to keep, the friends he could have made:

[Boys:] We played with him

[Fan:] Me, I came for him

[Fezziwig:] Me, I worked with him

[Belle:] Me, I loved him

[Scrooge:] And me, I'm the damn fool that lost 'em

There's a million things I should've done

But it's too late

[Company:] Everything you should have done!


End file.
